Phonograph pickup having elastic drive member



L. D. NORTON March 14, 1950 PHONOGRA PH PICKUP HAVING ELASTIC DRIVE MEMBER Filed Sept. 50, 1948 INVENTOR mm 0 Mm d mm L w Patented Mar. 14, 1950 UNITED as 'PATENT OFFICE rnonoenArglg g K g g v NeELASTIC .u-Leland .D. Norton, Fairfield;onii.,.assignor to '=Dictaphone Corporation, Bridgeport, Conn., 1 a

corporation of New York Ami licaticn September 30, 1 948,- Seriai No. 524005 .2 Glaims. (Cl. 179-100.41)

This invention :relates to emetic-mechanical fitranslating for use iin recording:and reproducing i-souirdy"andwislmore particularlyiconcerned"with piezo-electric pickups or reproducers designed and embloyeclfor the purposeof translatinginto electrical sound waves: the: mechanical record of i such "Waves 1' which has been cut upon a. wax cyl- -inder, or impressed 'onvzother record receiving means'.especially adapted and effective tordempring or otherwise iabso-rbi'ng vibrations to offset the efiec'ts of resonance more or less inh'erent i the aforesaid type of reproducerand thus to i a reat e'iitent to eliminate or mitigate the efiect of resonance points over a broad range of audible frequencies.

--Antherobj'ect is to provide simple and durable me'ans which helps *to imprcve tracking of the recordsound groove by the pickupdevieeand smooth out the response characteristic within the whole 'frequency response-range; Gther obj ects will be in part "obvious and in part pointed out "hereinafter.

'I'he invention accordinglybonsists in the features of construction, "combinations of -"e1en1erits, and arrangements or parts," as will beexemplified "in-the structure to be hereinafter described and *the -"sc'ope of the -application of which will' be indicated in the following claims.

"'In the accompanyingdrawingsin"which is "shown one" ofthe various possible embodiments 6f the invention Figfl is'a side view of "a. "portioniofta wellknown type of 's'ound'lje'produeing' machine earriage, showing the? pickup deviceqin operative disposition relative to a cylindrical sound rec- "0rd;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a link embodying relation to a record cylinder..C.which.. maybe rotated in the usual manner by mandrel D.

While the present-invention is particularly described in relation to :asrzpiezmelectric :br-ys'tal translatingmnit, it might be employedna *an'ccnnection between a stylus support and somelother vliiorm of i vibratory device, such as the arm'ature -of i an electro-=magnet, or r the standard type of wacousticdiaphragm, shown-tin U; S. Patent:.-No. \,1 ,7 26;57 4,'= tc which referenceriisliiere 1naide= for a more complete description of the sound reproiii) 2 zad llL-ZEI' unit in relationto some of its morespecific ifeaturesoi construction.

.Referring' to. Figure l, the .unit Alwill betseen .ltotcoxnprise apiezoeelectric. crystal Hiya stylus clever i 2,.jand a link, generally indicated at l4, 1.:WhiC1'laSGIVESliI1 asuitable. manner to transmit 1cvibraticnsunicked allp from .the "record by, a..sty1us "$01 the crystal 11H]. .platetittand suitable 1 crystal supportingsistructure I], .I'EHIOVablYNSB- cured to. the carriage.Bnserves lasta. mounting -fo1: the "crystal which. isritself supported. ina iusualt manner, at three ofgitslcorners, leaving a .kfourth corner free tobetconnectedtto the stylus l lever izbyltneulink I14. As shown, the crystal wsnpports include rresilient made .18. The ..free a corner or the crystal: is .znrovideclnvithua suitable corner clamp and stirrup i9, perforatedgasgat std to. receiver a 1 hook 2 i o-ftanfi upper: metal 41116111- were: ofiithe link it. Ailower; metal .linkgmem berwZ'tis formedias; whook M to engage withan wn'pening 2 5 disposedatone: end: of the. stylus lever The lever l 2 :carriesat its'onpcsiterend the remproducing stylus itand pivotally mountedby 5 means: of a horizontal 1 pin 1 3 between flanges; 2 I which depend froma reproducerweightiieverhw, pivotally supported :by a .pivot. screwt29 from. a bracket '32 extending downwardly from the .plate 215.

When not raised -byr manually controlled means :(not shown) the. reproducen weight tendslto ooccupy a lowered position 1 with reference. to the l-record C, i as :shownin Figure 1, due both to its own weight and the action of a spring 33 located between the said weight and an 1 arm? 34. on. the i bracket 32.

Referring specifically-to Figure :2: and 3, itwill be seen that the-link l ilconsists.of a small block or strip-2t of rubber orsrubherlikesubstance,

.l tinto the opposite BI'IdS OfrWhiCh the hooked wires 2?. and-2t have been molded. Bent {portions and. of the wires 22 and 2t help;to bondsecurelyrthe rubber link portion thereto, thusproriding a. permanentlconnection. between wire and rubber. i Other. methods: for interposing a: rubberiliketlinktbetween :pcint holder rand-stylus might .be employed withoutdeparting from Ethescope ref. rthe \invention. filer-example, the EUIbhBIt-MRE ,tp'ortionr of l the ilinlr 1 might. be secui'edw to its connection membersxby means of an adhesive.

w-Asuan example of z axlinktci the .nature :described which has given:1satisfactoryzresults in a -wstandard reproducer unit, athe :link used ihas an overall length of about .163 hundredthslof wan inch. The "rubber-like iDOIiliGIl. of ".this link has 4a circular. '1 crosstsection of. about 0.060 to 05065 .1 inch 1. in rdiameter, and :i its length is about tone quarten'oii aniinch with the portion between ithelihooked ends=.-3fl to' 3l of wires-=22 and-23 being approximately one eighth of an, inch. A

satisfactory link block may be composed of a Buna N synthetic rubber having a durometer value of 65-75, such as for example, the product identified by the trade name Hycar and manufactured by Goodrich Rubber Company. However any other rubber, synthetic rubber or materials of similar characteristics may be used provided the dimensions thereof are selected to suit. In the particular example mentioned, the rubber-iike link I4 has a compliance of 0.35 x centimeters per dyne, and that of the reproducerweight spring 33 is 1.6 x 10- centimeters per dyne. The mass of the recorder weight lever 28 is selected to resonate with the compliance of link i at 200 cycles per second or less, and the natural resonance frequency of the crystal i8 when clamped in position with the stirrup l9 connected through the link 14 to the stylus lever 12 is about 3000 cycles per second, with the mass of lever 12 being sufficiently small so as not to form with link l t a low-pass filter which cuts off at a frequency less than that of crystal resonance. Such a reproducer unit provides a frequency response curve with a smooth peak at about 200 cycles with a sharp cut off below that frequency and with a smooth curve above that frequency to a second and smaller peak at about 3000 cycles with a sharp high frequency cutoff thereafter. This forms a most desirable response characteristic curve, especially for business sound recording and reproducing operations.

One of the effects of the rubber-like link through which the force is transmitted to the crystal is to cause a slight peak at the lower end of the frequency response range due by inter-action with the mass of the reproducer weight. In addition, the damping of the material used in this link prevents this peak from becoming too sharp and too high. Furthermore, the damping due to this link material helps to improve tracking of the record groove by maintaining continuous contact between stylus and groove, thus smoothing out the characteristic of the unit over the entire audible frequency range. This low frequency response can be adjusted by proper selection of the mass of the reproducer weight and the compliance of the rubber-like link. The high frequency response is influenced by the rubber link only to a very small degree. It is affected primarily by the weight of the reproducer stylus lever, the stiffness and location of the crystal mounting pads, and the natural resonance frequency of the crystal.

In operation it will be understood that the signal is transmitted from the cylinder to the stylus lever l2 causing a combined rotary and translational motion of the stylus lever, with the center of rotation of the stylus lever varying its position with frequency variations, especially in the range between 100-500 cycles per second. At or below 100 cycles, the whole system, as defined above, rotates about the weight-lever pivot 29. As the frequency of motion picked up by the stylus increases above 500 cycles, the reproducer weight becomes, in effect, practically a fixed and solid mass with all the sound translational motion taking place about the pivot 13 of the stylus lever [2.

It will be understood that the standard allwirelink usually employed for the purposes described herein forms a comparatively stiff element with a very small compliance. At the higher frequencies the bends at the ends of such a wire link may open up slightly, causing a lateral vibration of the link which may result in the radiation of undesirable sounds or backtalk. In the past, attempts have been made to prevent this by sealing the wire link into a mass of sealing wax, shellac, or the like. In such a case, the effect of the sealing wax is to tend to render the link completely rigid and thus prevent any independent motion of the connecting link. The results attained in this way have been found more or less unsatisfactory for the purpose stated. In contrast, the present invention discloses the intentional provision of means permitting the introduction of independent motion in such a connecting link, and of such compliance as to interact with the stylus lever and reproducer weight to effect a smooth response characteristic in the lower frequency range.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a reproducing unit in accordance with the present invention is well adapted to attain the ends and objects hereinbefore set forth and to be economically manufactured for such use. As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention and as many changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it isto be understood that all matter herein before set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. l

I claim:

1. A phonographic sound reproducer unit comprising, in combination, a support for a piezo-electric crystal member, a weight lever pivotally mounted on said support for relative up and down movement, a stylus-holding lever pivotally mounted on said weight lever for relative up and down movement, and a link connecting the said crystal and said stylus lever comprising a pair of spaced relatively rigid members for engaging said crystal and lever respectively and a compliant tension member of rubber, or the like, bonded between the oppositely disposed ends of said compliant member.

2. In a phonographic sound reproducer unit comprising a vibratably mounted piezo-electric crystal, a weight lever pivotally mounted beneath said crystal for movement toward and away from said crystal, a spring tending to oppose the action of gravity upon said weight lever, a stylus lever mounted upon and beneath said weight lever and having a stylus supported at one end for engagement with a sound record, the combination with said crystal and said stylus lever of a connecting link comprising a pair of spaced wire hooks for engaging said crystal and stylus lever respectively and a rubber tension member bonded between the oppositely disposed ends of said wire hooks. I

LELAND D. NORTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

